Off Grid Living, Backpacking, Hiking, Health Education

Around the homestead done June 10, starting May 24…just after Trail Days.

So, here’s a look at the progress of my sun burn from Trail Days. This is my shoulder and chest from the 24th.

Honestly, it looks a lot less strawberry on camera… here comes May 25. It’s starting to peel, and here’s look at my new not-a-tattoo-it’s-self-tanning-lotion-using-a-paintbrush to support Ryan.

May 26 sunburn progress… gonna say it was definitely tender for a LONG time, then weird feeling as it blistered, then itchy when it started to peel.

And moving on to a bit later in the month (enough with the barbecued me! something pretty, please!). Here are some pictures from a jog with Kyle on the 29th. I like to keep an eye on the water levels at this turn around area. And I like to see the water ’cause it’s pretty… I like water. And Kyle likes to lap at the water, and do a bit of wading, and a lot of sniffing. If it’s warm, I usually bring him down to get a bit wet and cooled off during the jog. I also found a nice little Brown Snake on the road, and took a few pictures before I chivied it off the road. And I took a picture of that ‘repair’ job on the internet/phone cables down the road that was severed last fall by a road crew because it was essentially just laying along the surface and not marked… and Century Link repaired it…and our internte and phone still suck. They might suck more after the repair, I’m not sure…maybe it’s helping ground the connection, since the power lines are all UNGROUNDED for at least a mile in both directions, maybe further… they haven’t been since we before we moved here… theory is that some derp stole the copper ground wire to sell for scrap, and while Century Link is aware of the problem, they say they can’t repair the problem because the power company owns and maintains the power poles…and Century Link just rents the space on the poles from them for their lines where the lines go along the poles (nearer to us, it’s on the poles, in that area, for some reason it’s under ground). And I’m not sure why the power company won’t fix them… one day when I feel like being left on hold, transferred, dropped, waiting on hold, and talking to people playing the blame game aaaallllll day, I might try calling the power company and Century Link and the power company… we’ll see. Also took some pictures to show ya of the ferns and stuff. I think some of them are Maidenhair, some might be Delicate ferns, and some are ones I don’t know. If I spent a long time looking them up, I might start looking at Christmas fern with one of the others. And one of the plants is what someone said might be Mugwort. I haven’t looked them up yet, ’cause I’ve been doing other stuff.

Here is some pictures from May 31. Some more pictures from a jog with Kyle. Also, some pictures of some sort of gal on an oak leaf, as well as a peep over the spring to where I did some mowing. I did some mowing along the road too, but ran out of oil eventually, so I stopped. Also a picture of a happy dog. HERE’S SOMETHING ALL DOG OWNERS NEED TO REMEMBER: D O G S N E E D E X E R C I S E or there are consequences. Individual and breed needs vary, but they ALL NEED SOME. Kyle’s a cattle dog. A working breed… so he needs a great deal or he gets bored…and harasses the cats… and just is too feisty. SIX MILES 3-4 days a week, and he’s doing a bit better. So folks, if you want a pet you don’t have to exercise, get a … goldfish? And if you get a dog and it pees on the floor, or if it eats the couch, acts neurotic, or just boisterous… ask yourself if you are really giving it enough to do. Don’t blame a dog bred to hunt rabbits all day if it goes nutty when you stick it in an apartment and let it out once or twice a day for a quick wee. Don’t blame a cattle dog for not acting like a nuclear reactor on melt down when you expect it to find mental and physical stimulation sitting on a couch aaaallll day. Ok sorry for my little rant, here are the pictures. Ooops, I forgot the spider… it was walking across the floor one evening, and Indy spotted it before I did, but instead of gakking it right away, she was just sort of keeping it in one spot on the floor by preventing it from walking anywhere, so I could capture it in the closest cup-like thing I had… an empty can of beans… it’s one of the litter ones (bean cans) but it’s still a big spider so thanks Indy, it’s outside now, not dead and not accidentally walking across my foot where I freak and smack it before I look.

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And Nim, looking in and then looking like … “What?” and back in the pipe… and looking a bit …anyway.

Here comes June 3. Starting off with another snake… a road kill snake, spotted on a jog. I’m pretty sure it’s a … oddly enough, a Ring Neck snake. I haven’t had a chance to look it up to be sure yet, but it’s also the first one like that I’ve …sort of seen in the wild. I’m pretty sure back in my first stint in college, the Herpetology lab had one in a jar with some sort of fluid, but that’s not quite the same. So, I had to take pictures…and share them in case there are other nerds out there who like herps.

Here is June 6, the big part. Some jogging pictures, etc.

And a few more from June 6. I was heading out into the yard to do some stuff, and on the porch, I simultaneously heard the sorta chirp-cheep-beep sort of noise that a hummingbird makes, as well as a commotion of critters as both dogs and at least two cats thought that was an interesting thing. So I shoe-ed them back outside or inside, closed up the door to keep the pups inside, and located the bird in a box on the window ledge inside the porch. I’m not sure why he (I’m pretty sure it was a he, I think I saw the throat patch when I carefully grabbed him, a male Ruby Throated hummingbird, … I know them well, as well as you only get 1 species of hummer east of the Mississippi anyway) had come onto the porch, or why he hadn’t figured out how to go out the windowless windows (well, glassless) or the edge gap but he hadn’t. I’ve rescued a few other birds from the porch, including another hummer in the past, but this time I thought to bring the camera. After carefully cupping him in my hand, and holding it against my chest to sorta keep him from sneaking out from the side between my fingers, I headed off the porch and up to the top of the driveway where there were some flowers he might be interested in. I wasn’t sure how long he was on the porch, how exhausted and hungry and weak he might be, so I’d rather have him near some flowers (and further from the cats in the yard…not that they don’t go up that way but at least a bit away from where they were at the time). I tried to get a few pictures through the gaps in my hand, and here are the best. You can sorta see a hummer head and needle shaped beak, and you can for sure see his cute little fanny (ok, well tail), and some of his side. And when I go to the flowers… I opened my hand to let him go, expecting him to take a moment to orient himself and rest a bit while I would turn the in the right direction and take some amazing pictures of a hummer in my hand… but ZZZzzzzrrrrrmmm!!! He was off and away…leaving my the only thing for the camera to be the flowers. I felt a bit dippy to not have the camera more ready but happy to see he was feeling so perky to just disappear into the trees.

June 8, yet more jogging route pictures. It’s not rained in a few days (wow, that’s a change!!!! It’s been pretty soggy most of the spring), so the water levels are down a bit.

Here are some pictures from June 9, and if I hadn’t seen them do this before, and after having seen Nutters in her not so healthy last day… I’d have been seriously worried… however, the flock seemed to have found a sunny spot to hang out and sun bathe… and cuddle? Oregano, what’s with that? And a few pictures of some chopped wood, loaded up for a delivery to a friend as part of a trade for some tools for Ryan. Ok, some people don’t really care about chopped wood but I like to see what my effort has done some days. It also looks a lot more fun than a clean chicken coop floor, which is something else I did that day, as well as an errand and another 6 for Kyle (ok, and for me, I like the run, it’s good for my ‘happy meter’ in my brain).

And here is daytime June 10. Today was one of the days I’ve been looking forward to most of the spring and early summer (which didn’t involve a reaaalllly long drive to visit Ryan). It was the day for the Drugs Kill Dreams 5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathon put on by the YMCA and sponsored by a bunch of groups, especially the chiropractor that Ryan used to go to before the VA said he had to see theirs… and theirs is ok, but this guy was and is better (and of course, to make it better, his name is Ryan, too.. which made my Ryan a bit smug I think). I had a GREAT time, and I just wanted to do it in less than 3 hours absolutely tops, and hopefully less than 2 1/2 hours… which would mean at about 10 minutes per mile, a bit over 130 minutes…give or take for tiredness. I’m not quite so fast with Kyle…but Kyle goes slowly, and so I generally use a weight belt when I jog with him just to get a bit more workout going Kyle slow… and the 6 miles we usually run (approximately 6) is pretty well hilled, and it’s a down hill overall to the turn around, so it’s nice and uphill on the way back, but the last mile or so is a bit less hilly, so I get a lot of work on the way back but I’m not totally dreading the last mile. I did the 1/2 marathon, along with I’m guessing about 5 other females, and maybe … 15 males? I didn’t really count. There were a lot more entrants for the 5K (about 3 miles) and 10K (about 6 miles). I ran the Big Foot 1/2 marathon on the same course last year, but they held it a lot earlier, in April I think. I don’t think they had that named race this year… I’m guessing they shifted the name and the date a bit, because it seems like most of the sponsors (especially the chiropractor) sponsored that race, too. I don’t remember my time, I think I was just barely under 2 hours, but I was getting a lot more exercise at work then, and I’m a tad chubbier than last year, so like I said, as usual, my goals were to have fun, enjoy the run, and just do a decent pace. Oh, and not hurt myself. Good news, I had a bast, I felt great at the end, and surprisingly, had a time of just barely under 1 hour, 55 minutes. I’m really pleased with that for a time. And like I said, there was a really small field, so I actually was the first female finisher… so I got this really large trophy plaque thing…. which always make Ryan smug, and me sigh because where am I going to put it… I’d prefer a small medal… they stuff in the sock drawer back a lot easier, but I fell bad if I just chuck it. But this one has a really cool function, it has a peg on the back to kick stand it on a table or counter, but the peg unscrews, and you can hang it flat on the wall from the tab thing. Cool design guys. Oh, and the hopscotch board in chalk on the home stretch-ish corner was too small, hey kids, you have tiny feet, I couldn’t get the pattern down… I tried and failed. And I tried to scoop one of the flowers from a tree that kept falling onto the path as I ran through (again, on the last 1/5 of a mile home stretch area)… managed to get one up, and try to smell it and drop it. So after I finished it, I went back and checked them out a bit, and looked at the tree. It was a Catalpa (not sure which kind), and there were a lot of these cool flowers falling, so I gathered a few to take back to the camera and took some pictures. They smell nice too.

And more June 10…only it’s bad news. I’m missing a chicken at toes on line (I’ll update the Egg-A-Day soon)… and that critter is … well it’s probably not a possum up in that tree. Kyle and Ralf have gone off few times this evening, and the last time we went off to see I caught eye shine in a tree.

Well, I’d like to go to sleep now, so that’s it for now. Have a great one, and wish us luck with this coon… Kyle says BARK BARK BARK at him right now.

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Published by FixedByDoc

I live recently moved back on grid due to illness. My hobbies are outdoor survival skills and backpacking. I hike all over the USA. I worked for many years in EMS and the Medical field. I hold a BS degree in Community Health Education and a second BS degree in Outdoor Recreation Leadership & Management. I was a Combat Medic in the Army and a certified Medical Specialist. I am now retired and live freely in Michigan with my wife in our new home. The rest you can learn about through our blogs to which we hope you enjoy...
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Sorry to see you got a Lobsterized sun burn.. Hope you find a sunscreen or something that keeps that from happening again. Really appreciate all the great details and thought, that went into your post re-capping alot of time. You are obviously quite intelligent, eloquent and intense. Congratulations on your win, once again.. I am sure you will be able to find a great place to mount your Trophy. I liken you and Ryan as modern day pioneers and while your time apart is difficult, it was often a very real part of life of the early pioneers that settled and established homesteads away from their homelands. Modern day twists are just part of the time we live in. Wishing the best for your’s and Ryan’s journey through your modern day off grid pioneering adventures.